I am here in San Francisco at the Society of Biblical Literature annual Sea of Tweed and Bowtie Geekfest. This is where biblical scholars from all over the world gather once a year to impress each other and buy books at half price.
Yes I am cynical. I am wearing jeans, a t-shirt, and my Birkenstocks with socks in protest
to “stick it to the man.” I’m sure if Jesus were here he’d be doing the same thing–although, maybe he’d be getting Ben and Jerry’s at the corner of Haight and Ashbury (not kidding, see picture to the right).
I will finish up in a few days my current series on Adam. In the meantime, let me throw out there a question that spun out of a conference I took part in yesterday–a conversation with N.T. Wright on the Missional Church. This specific issue was not discussed, but we circled around it a bit.
In the Old Testament:
- Circumcision was an eternal stipulation for Israel, and Gentiles could only take part in the covenant with Yahweh by being circumcised.
In the New Testament
- Paul rendered the eternal stipulation of circumcision null and void for both Jews and Gentiles.
Discuss: Did Paul believe in the authority of the Bible?
